


Pre-boiled

by elena0206



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Angry Will, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Established Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Implied Cannibalism, Jealous Will, Jealousy, M/M, Manipulative Hannibal, Will Graham-centric, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 17:03:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4843388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elena0206/pseuds/elena0206
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Patrick Nolan is Hannibal Lecter's new patient who makes a great conversation partner. However, he gets too close to Hannibal for Will Graham to be comfortable with. </p><p>OR</p><p>Will is jealous of Hannibal's new friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pre-boiled

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to all the lovely people who inspired this, and I'm sorry it took so long! It is not beta-read, so I apologize for the possible mistakes or typos. Enjoy!

Patrick Nolan was an athletic young man, with soft and well-contoured features, and a refined fashion sense. His attire was perfectly neat, and his demeanor proud and confident. He reminded Will of Hannibal a lot – perhaps a younger version of him – and to his dismay, Hannibal bluntly displayed his interest in that specific patient. Patrick had been seeing Hannibal on a weekly basis for quite a long time, and more recently their meetings crossed the border of mere medical appointments, as Hannibal started inviting him home.

Hannibal and Will never talked about Patrick Nolan in their private life, so when Hannibal had brought his young patient home for the first time, Will was unpleasantly surprised by the unexpected guest.

“Will, I would like you to meet Patrick Nolan,” Hannibal made the introductions. “Patrick, I’ve already told you about Will.”

Patrick nodded knowingly, and with a wide and bold smile, he shook Will’s hand. The latter was still perplexed that Hannibal brought his patient home so unexpectedly. Moreover, he was wondering what and exactly how much Hannibal told Patrick about him. He was unsure about Hannibal’s intentions regarding his patient that evening, and unsure of the attitude he was supposed to treat him with, but he was certain that Patrick Nolan’s presence was upsetting.

The three men spent the evening in front of the fireplace. Hannibal and Patrick were sitting on an armchair each, and Will was slightly behind them, on the sofa. Hannibal poured drinks for the three of them and started discussing with Patrick, ignoring Will almost completely. Patrick was talking rapidly and energetically, engaging Hannibal in a debate about the relation between Botticelli’s paintings and da Palestrina’s compositions. Will was utterly disinterred in hearing Patrick’s opinion on the subject, but Hannibal seemed eager to acclaim and encourage him to rant even more.

Will dozed off several times, and once while he was holding his glass, accidentally dropping it on the floor. He woke up immediately, only to find out that Patrick was still there. Startled by the sudden sound of breaking glass, Hannibal rose from his armchair and turned around to face Will.

“Sorry,” Will apologized. “I drifted away for a moment.”

“Please, don’t let us keep you awake,” Patrick Nolan said, casting a condescending glance that made Will dislike him even more.

“You should get some rest,” Hannibal assented. “I will be there soon too.” He started picking up the pieces from the floor and cleaning up the mess Will caused.

“Don’t worry, we can carry on without your input.”

Patrick displayed his snobbish smirk again, and Will realized just how much he hated that man, and how he wished Hannibal wasn’t so interested in him. He looked at Hannibal to see his reaction to Patrick’s crude remark, but Hannibal simply turned around to take the shards to the kitchen bin, as if he didn’t even hear it. Will got up angry, and without saying another word, he headed for the stairs. He turned to the side slightly as he passed by Hannibal, so that their shoulders didn’t touch.

Once he reached the bedroom, Will threw himself on the large bed and started pondering on his bottled up fury. It was unspecific for Hannibal to bring his patients home and get so close to them, with the only exception being Will. However, it seemed like Hannibal found a brand new replacement piece. Will was jealous that Hannibal was so interested in his patient, and he hated the way Patrick Nolan treated him a sense of superiority. What he hated even more than that was the fact that Hannibal had no reaction to Patrick’s commentary, as if he agreed. It was true that Will didn’t participate in their conversation that night, but since when did Hannibal start allowing people to be so uncivil and vulgar, especially towards Will? Unless, of course, his feelings for Will faded away and were replaced by a young, cultured and self-assured version of Hannibal himself – then it all made sense.

Will covered his face with his palms, and imagined Hannibal and Patrick getting physically intimate just downstairs, cheering that he was finally gone and they could be alone. The mere thought made him feel nauseated and dizzy. He got up from bed and went to the bathroom. For a moment, he entertained the possibility of sneaking up on the hallway and listening to their conversation, but soon after he figured it would be a ridiculous thing to do. He washed his face with cold water, trying to push the negative thoughts away. He kept telling himself that Hannibal simply enjoyed having an occasional conversation partner, and that Patrick meant nothing more to him.

About half an hour after Will went to bed, Hannibal slowly entered their bedroom, and without saying a word he turned the lights off and joined Will. He was lying on his side, and despite Hannibal’s efforts, he refused to turn around. Hannibal kissed Will’s neck, his shoulder, his collarbone, but Will stopped him, and Hannibal understood. He smelled strongly of alcohol, and the image of him and Patrick Nolan drinking together reappeared in Will’s mind.

“Do I need an appointment for this?” Will asked sarcastically.

Hannibal laughed slightly, without sound, but Will felt his smile gazing upon him.

“Depending on which services you need from me,” Hannibal answered, wrapping an arm around Will, resting his head on the other’s and whispering in his ear. Hannibal’s deep and appealing voice sent warm shivers down Will’s spine.

“The services I need from you, Doctor Lecter” – Will grabbed Hannibal’s hand, stroking it slowly – “require after hours consultation.”

“So be it.”

Hannibal took a long and deep breath in, enjoying the comfort of Will’s smell and the warmth of his body, and he fell asleep almost immediately. They spent the rest of the night in a half-embrace, but Will fell asleep only soon before dawn, still haunted by his unsettling thoughts and doubts regarding the man sleeping peacefully next to him.

The next few days passed by smoothly, with Hannibal reassuring Will of the shared feelings between the two of them. Whenever Patrick Nolan was around, Will would always try to dominate the conversation and gain the full attention of his beloved.  Will purposefully visited Hannibal at his office when he knew he would meet Patrick, just to prove the latter that there was a strong bond between him and Hannibal, and no place for a third element in their relationship. It worked for a while; Hannibal seemed to be less interested in Patrick, Patrick less enthusiastic about his visits, and Will more and more confident about himself, until the appointments stopped and Patrick was no longer Hannibal’s patient. Will could finally stop worrying all the time about Patrick interfering between him and Hannibal.

It was a cold and windy April day, and Will was walking his dogs when an idea crossed his mind. Hannibal was still at his office and was going to come home late that day, so Will decided to wait for him with a surprise. He ended the walk earlier and bought wine, truffles and all necessary ingredients for Foie Gras. They didn’t get to spend much time together that week because Hannibal was working more than usually, and Will hoped that a special dinner would help them both relax. He put on a white dress shirt, with dark trousers and black shoes, and double checked himself in the mirror to make sure he was looking neat and elegant enough to be a match for Hannibal’s flamboyant attire.

When he arrived at Hannibal’s residence, he saw lights coming from inside. Hannibal was already home, perhaps he had cancelled the last appointments that day and they were going to spend the whole evening together, just the two of them. Will smiled in anticipation and opened the front door.

His smile immediately faded away, as he entered the living room and saw Patrick Nolan sitting on an armchair, and Hannibal in front of him, leaning against a desk. The two men were jovially talking when Will entered, making them stop abruptly, with half-smiles still frozen on their faces. The reality hit Will like a cold slap at the back of his head. His heart ached as he understood why Hannibal was so busy with his work that week. The meetings never stopped, and Hannibal lied to him. He lied to him so he can see Patrick undisturbed.

“I bought dinner,” Will said, raising the grocery bag, trying to remain calm and not let it show how much he was actually affected.

“Wonderful!” Hannibal exclaimed. “Patrick would be pleased to stay for dinner. Wouldn’t you?”

Patrick replied with no hesitation, “Absolutely. I would love to, if Mr. Graham here doesn’t mind.”

“Always glad to have Hannibal’s friends for dinner,” Will said and looked over to Hannibal, to which he responded with a sly and knowing smile. There was nothing in Hannibal’s eyes to betray that he was feeling uneasy with the unplanned collision. After all, if he truly wanted to be alone with Patrick, he could have found a more private place than a shared home with Will. And yet, there he was – ruining Will’s plans once again.

Hannibal started preparing dinner with the ingredients brought by Will, and the other two other men waited in the living room, having a drink in front of the fireplace. Without Hannibal around, the silence between them was getting tense and uncomfortable, but Will wasn’t eager to start a conversation. Patrick, on the other hand, couldn’t stay quiet for too long.

“Did he lie to you?” he inquired.

Will frowned and stared at Patrick confused for a moment, unsure what he meant with his question.

“Hannibal,” he explained. “Did he lie to you that we had stopped meeting?”

Will didn’t respond. He looked down at his glass and saw his own reflection, a distorted image of a broken man.

“I can understand why he did seeing the way you treat him. Are you aware of the fact that you are extremely possessive?”

There was something extremely vulgar in Patrick’s nonchalant way of being that Will hated.

“Not more than you are aware of the fact that your presence is not welcome here.” he replied, with a bitter tone of anger in his voice.

Patrick started laughing, and then finished his drink in one sip. He got up from his seat and straightened his jacket, while watching the furious Will from above.

“One of these days you’ll find out that you’re mistaken.”

He headed over for the kitchen, leaving Will alone in the living room. Will clenched his teeth and poured himself another drink. He closed his eyes and imagined knocking Patrick Nolan down to the floor, beating him mindlessly and strangling him to death. He could have finished all of it so quickly. The idea was rather comforting and violently liberating. 

Hannibal finished cooking and the three men ate their meals in silence. He tried to engage both Will and Patrick in a conversation, but neither of them was willing to cooperate. The atmosphere was cold and tense, like a fully mined battlefield ready to blow up at the very first wrong step taken. It was unclear who would be the main victim in case of an explosion, but all three of them would be scarred. What Patrick Nolan did not know was that playing with Hannibal, whether he was on his team or the opposite one, was equally dangerous and addictive. Once someone got a taste of it, they would always want to see him again – if they weren’t utterly terrified in the first place, but that rarely happened because Hannibal always knew how to be charming enough to lure anyone into his mad world.  

Will was different. He has always been an exception from all Hannibal’s rules. Will was not lured and caught in Hannibal’s nets of lies. Instead, they both built personal cages for each other. They trapped each other in conjoined cells – separate, but identical; glued together, but distinct from each other. Patrick Nolan was an element of disturbance in the precarious equilibrium Hannibal and Will suspended themselves in, and for that reason Will wanted him removed.

After Patrick was gone, Hannibal embraced Will lovingly and apologized for not being entirely honest with him.

“His presence is obsessing you,” he said. “I hoped it would help you detach and focus on us instead.”

“When he’s around, I’m not sure if ‘us’ is as well-defined as I thought.”

“Just you and me. Simple as that.”

Will looked up to Hannibal’s face and their eyes met. Hannibal’s charming smile never failed to warm Will’s heart and make him feel at ease. It felt like home, like safety and stability. Patrick Nolan’s presence was indeed obsessing Will, and perhaps Hannibal was right that he should just let go of it and enjoy their time together instead.

They spent the whole night together, and Hannibal made sure Will felt wanted, loved, appreciated. The sunrise found them entwined on bed, holding onto each other in a tight embrace.

Once again, Hannibal managed to convince Will that Patrick meant nothing to him, and that he could always cut off their contact. That was exactly what Will wanted Hannibal to do, but telling him that would have been a sign that he didn’t trust him enough to let him spend time around Patrick, which was only half true. Caught in between his own doubts and Hannibal’s insistences, Will gave up and decided to give Patrick Nolan less importance.

He stopped visiting Hannibal’s office when he knew Patrick would be there. He stopped trying to dominate the conversations. He stopped showing hostility and bitterness. Hannibal started being honest about those times when he was seeing Patrick Nolan. He started announcing Will when he would pay them a visit. He started discussing their relationship in front of him, making him aware they’re intimate with each other.

But the truth was that Will abhorred every moment of Patrick’s presence. He hated him with every cell of his being and hoped that every single breath he took was going to be the last one. He imagined countless ways of killing him, and not one single time he felt bad for it. He imagined beating him, stabbing him, drowning him, setting him on fire, hanging him, strangling him, cutting him open… and he felt so alive. He felt so good thinking about doing all horrendous and gruesome things he could do to Patrick Nolan.

It was a late afternoon when Patrick Nolan showed up at their door. Will invited him inside, shook his hand, and sat down and drank with him until Hannibal finished cooking. His mind was finally clear and his decision taken.

Hannibal was sitting at one end of the table, with Will and Patrick next to him, on the sides.

“You truly are a master of flavors,” Patrick addressed Hannibal while chewing on his meal.

“Smell and taste are the most basic of our senses. They allow us to experience the world in a way seeing, hearing, or touching cannot.”

“Have you ever been curious of what you’d taste like?” Will interrupted Hannibal, making both men pause for a moment to process his daring question. Hannibal was intrigued, and Patrick somewhat taken aback.

 “I can’t say I’ve ever given self-cannibalism serious thought,” Patrick answered with a half-convincing smile.

“Take your time,” Will offered. “Think about it.”

He rose from his seat at the table and walked to the kitchen. Hannibal watched his precise and confident moves in silence, while Patrick was confused by the direction their conversation shifted into.

“I don’t shy away from too many taboo practices,” he finally started talking, “but I can’t see any good reason why I would want to eat myself. Or imagine doing it, for that matter.”

“Mere curiosity,” Will shouted from the next room.

“Curiosity is the lust of the mind,” Hannibal added, more for Will than for Patrick.

Will walked in, holding a silver tray with three cups of hot tea on it. A fine curtain of steam was escaping each cup.

“Or,” he was standing right next to Patrick’s seat, “perhaps you have no other choice.”

Without even bothering to fake an accident, Will dropped the tray on Patrick’s lap. He rose up immediately, and shrieked in pain as the hot liquid passed though thin layers of fabric and touched the skin underneath.

“This is ridiculous!” he yelled. “You are insane!”

Hannibal was not as shocked as Patrick by Will’s gesture, but rather amused by the whole situation. He eventually got up from his chair as well, and pointed to the bathroom.

“This way,” he said, trying to calm Patrick and make him follow.

As soon as Hannibal touched Patrick’s shoulder with his arm, Will balanced his body weight and hit Patrick at the back of his head with all power, making him drop unconscious on the floor.

Hannibal turned around, and looked at the man lying on the floor, and then at Will, raising his eyebrows, the corners of his lips twitching in a cunning smirk.

“He’s pre-boiled,” Will said, with no disturbance or remorse in his voice.

Hannibal cracked a full smile, not hiding his satisfaction anymore. The evening turned out to be way more entertaining that he had previously thought.

“I was starting to worry you would never do it,” he confessed.

“Don’t you dare play with me like that again,” Will muttered under his breath.

“You and I both know that you enjoyed this just as much as I did.”

“I’m not done with him yet.“ Will took a quick look at the unmoving body on the floor, a thin stream of blood emerging from underneath. He grabbed Hannibal by his tie and forced him to sit down on a chair. “And I’m not done with you.”

Hannibal leaned back and allowed Will to play his turn.

“Next time you want me to kill someone”–he moved his face closer to Hannibal’s and whispered in his ear–“ask nicely. One of these days, I might say yes.”


End file.
